The present invention relates generally to data storage, and in particular to automatic data storage library.
Data storage library systems are electro-mechanical devices which contain multiple drives and pieces of data storage media to accommodate installations requiring mass data storage. Media cartridges are stored in columnar arrays to facilitate picking and placing from the storage slots into designated readable/writable drive subsystems. In order to provide accurate and reliable picking and placing of the cartridges, mechanical calibration must take place. The calibration may be required numerous times during the life of the library to compensate for system wear and degradation or if a system is moved to a new location.
Conventional means of mechanical calibration require human intervention and time consuming adjustments to insure that the proper alignments will yield reliable operation. This conventional means often result in excessive system downtime which reduces the end-users perceived reliability.
There is a need for a method to calibrate the alignments of data storage libraries such that human intervention of alignment calibration is eliminated.
The present invention provides a method for automatic alignment calibration of a data storage library. The method eliminates human intervention of the alignment calibration.
In one aspect, a data storage library is provided. The data storage library includes a storage area including at least one reference location, at least one reference target, at least one specific target, and a media transport assembly (MTA) located near the storage area. The data storage library also includes a sensing system. Furthermore, the data storage library includes means for positioning the MTA to enable the sensing system to perform a calibrating alignment of the data storage library.
Another aspect provides a method of calibrating alignments of a data storage library. The method includes determining an alignment offset by aligning an emitter with a reference location. The method also includes determining a sensor offset by aligning a sensor with a reference target, wherein the sensor offset is a function of the alignment offset. The method further includes determining a specific offset by aligning the sensor with a specific target, wherein the specific offset is a function of the sensor offset, wherein the specific offset is used to determine an actual location of a specific location located near the specific target.